School Attendance and Crime

Have you ever wondered if more kids attended school, maybe there would be less crime? I have been researching many aspects of education and it's effect on a better life for our kids today, as you may have seen on my website http://www.roccobasile.com/. Studying the relationship between school attendance and crime goes back more than 200 years. Many people believe that rather than school, better crime control measures include vigorous police work, strict law enforcement, and allowing young people more choices in their education.

Crime and violence have been around for thousands of years, long before the compulsory school attendance statutes. In fact, violence and even references to youth gangs are all recorded in the Bible. But so have education, learning and achievement.

The American view about education and crime was referenced in the January 10, 1931 Literary Digest, in an article entitled "What We Shall Be Like in 1950" (pages 43-44). Predictions in the article state "definite prophecies made by the National Education Association" and adapted from a publication called Tomorrow's Business say, "Crime will be virtually abolished by transferring to the preventive processes of the school and education the problems of conduct which police, courts, and prisons now remedy when it is too late."

A number of experts believe school causes crime more than it prevents crime. This is not necessarily a new belief either. Check out what Henry Fielding said in his day! "Public schools are the nurseries of all vice and immorality." Henry Fielding (1707-1754).

Many people wonder if crime is closely related to drug use. In 2006, there was a study entitled, "The Monitoring the Future Study" which asked high school seniors, "On how many occasions, if any, have you used drugs or alcohol during the last 12 months?"

The answers may be surprising:
Alcohol - 66.5
Marijuana - 31.5
Other opiates - 9.0
Stimulants - 8.1
Sedatives - 6.6
Tranquilizers - 6.6
Cocaine - 5.7
Hallucinogens - 4.9
Inhalants - 4.5
Steroids - 1.8
Heroin - 0.8

The good news is that there are programs across the country that are helping prevent both drug use and crime. My work with Children of the City proves every day how they have helped students do better in school, and therefore I am certain, it has helped the community of Sunset Park in Brooklyn, New York prevent crime.

They have a program called "FutureSafe," a collaborative monthly event attended by around 500 kids. It's like a neighborhood block party, with food, games, singing, crafts, and other fun stuff. Attending one of these events is often a first step for children when it comes to engaging in structured afterschool activities where they are picked up from their homes and brought to the
community center. Children of the City provides a preventative element designed to deter children from drug abuse, delinquency, gang involvement, teen pregnancies, as well as teach them on important issues such as health and education.

The non-profit also organizes parent workshops at these events that gives parents the tools and support to help them be a better advocate for their children, to teach them how to combat social challenges. And at Christmas they provide toys and gifts for hundreds of children, most of who have proven over the last 23 years since the organization was founded, are NOT involved in crime.

--Rocco Basile